She Just Wanted To Be There For Him
by rain.purifies.the.soul
Summary: He leaned over until his lips were next to his ear. And how exactly are you going to make this any better? The whispered words made her stand rigid. ShikaIno Oneshot. Hope you like it.


She ran into the rain, her bubbling laughter escaping her throat as she twirled. The edges of her flowing skirt formed like a flower against her pale legs. Pieces of her stringy blonde hair clung to parts of her face and back. Her blue eyes danced with happiness as she glanced up at the darkened clouds with an almost wistful look on her face, stopping her spinning. Her eyes grew more serious as she concentrated on the topic in her mind.

She gracefully sat in the grass, letting the chilly rain pound into her scalp and arms. She had seen Sakura with Sasuke earlier that day on what appeared to be a date, but that wasn't what disturbed the young blonde. After all, she had given up on Sasuke nearly three years ago. It should have been blatantly obvious; she was only using him to keep talking to Sakura. The part the bothered her however, is that her teammate had been acting differently lately. He was lazy, but skipping practice for an entire week wasn't normal. Chouji didn't seem to mind, but then again, since he was the genius' best friend, he probably knew exactly what was going on.

"I'm hopeless, I can't even help him when it seems like he needs it." She muttered bitterly, absentmindedly twiddling with the grass that lay beneath her fingers. She stared blankly ahead wondering if she was useless to everyone except her family and herself. She knew that she hadn't done a thing to help anyone but herself and was labeled as 'bitch', 'whore', 'spoiled brat', 'flirt', and whatnot by nine-tenths of the people surrounding her. Shikamaru and Chouji were her only real friends, and if one of them was suffering, she wanted to make it better in any way possible with the exception of kissing and sexual contact.

She laid completely back, eyes closing as each raindrop hit her face. Her blonde hair was probably knotted and tangled, but she didn't really care right now. "Maybe he broke up with that one sand nin…wait, was he even going out with her?" She was speaking out loud to herself, not noticing the heavy footsteps approaching her.

"Ino," Chouji smiled softly, watching her eyes snap open. "Shikamaru…. Well, what you were mumbling to yourself that is…" he laughed weakly and rather pitifully hoping that she understood what he was trying to say.

"True?" She asked, eyes widening in horror as he nodded. "And he's depressed and won't leave his house?" Chouji, once again, nodded.

He chuckled to himself. 'Only Ino would get horrified by something like that. Everyone that knew that he needed space and she - '

"I'm going to visit him." She stood up quickly, brushing grass and dirt off of her bottom. "I'm going alone though." Her eyes narrowed almost dangerously. Ino obviously wanted to go alone and he could tell that she was being a little possessive.

Before Chouji could even 'argue', she had already disappeared. She ran all the way to his house, jumping over items, shoving people out of the way, and overall looking like an insane violent bitch. She could feel the dark looks of people as she pushed past them, getting closer to her destination.

Suddenly, a hand grasped her wrist tightly, yanking her to a halt. The seventeen-year-old blinked and glanced at the hand holding her wrist. Whoever this hand belonged to was going to get hell from her.

"So Ino-pig, finally realized that Sasuke-kun is in love with ME and NOT YOU? Is that why you're running so fast?" Sakura was the only one oblivious to the fact that Ino had given up on Sasuke and was trying to rub salt into an opened wound that had already completely healed.

"Get the fuck away from me." Ino muttered darkly. "This has nothing to do with you, so just back off and be a bitch to somebody else." She yanked her arm free and turned to continue of her way to his house.

"Like you're one to talk. Are you really that JEALOUS of ME and Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig?" Sakura smirked as Ino started to scowl. "You realize that YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH, right?"

Ino started to shake lightly. "I don't care about Sasuke-JACKASS anymore! And…" She looked down, tears at the corner of her eyes. "I KNOW I'm not GOOD ENOUGH, but I can try…." The last part came out in a whispery tone.

"Ino…" Sakura started, but realized that she was already running and shoving her way through the crowd again.

Ino rapped his door, heaving for breath. When nobody answered, she started kicking the door. She knew that he was inside of this house and she was going to talk to him dammit!

The door swung open. "Geez, Chouji. Can't you ever be PATIENT when you com - " He stopped mid-sentence, and gaped at the girl before him. Her face was red, she was heaving, her blonde hair was tangled and had a few pieces of grass stuck to it, she was soaking wet; and there were tears at the corners of her eyes. "Ino?"

As she gave him a once over with her eyes, he wasn't in the best state either. His hair was down from its usual ponytail, falling to the end of his shoulder blades; there were bags under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't had much sleep; the stubble of his chin indicated that he hadn't shaved either. In fact, she would bet anyone that he hadn't slept, bathed, or even eaten in the past week.

A voice interrupted her muses. "Ino? Are you all right? Did the _Uchiha_ hurt your feelings?" His voice was bored and uninterested, but she could tell that he was concerned.

'_Probably because of my appearance. Scratch the Sakura is only oblivious, apparently Shikamaru is too_.' She chuckled quietly and looked up at him with "innocent" eyes. "I'm fine. No, he didn't. I came to see if you were all right, I'd heard what happened."

His soft gaze turned into a hard glare. "So what? You think you can make this any better?"

"No…." She kept her teal orbs focused on his dark umber ones that stood about six inches above her. "But I want to try…"

"You're such a troublesome woman." He smirked lightly, his glare leaving. He leaned over until his lips were next to his ear. "And how exactly are you going to make this any better?" The whispered words made her stand rigid. What was he implying?

Then, without warning, he jerked away, a horrible stain of red across his cheeks. He didn't look in her eyes, and instead, chose to try to close the door in her face.

Ino slammed the door back open, her face tinted a light pink, her tears falling. "Why the hell are you trying to close me out? How am I supposed to make it any better? I have no idea but I want to make it better!"

"You can't." He muttered looking at the ground. "Temari…she really screwed me up Ino. I was positive that our relationship was going to work. I was so sure." He held back tears by closing his eyes and turning away from Ino. "So please….just let me be so I can sort out my feelings Ino."

His eyes snapped open when he felt her smooth arms around his torso. He tried pulling away but failed as Ino's arms tightened. "It's all right Shikamaru. It's ok. The first love of your life always hurts the most."

Ino's tears hitting the back of his black shirt. It remained silent as she stood there trying to take the pain away. "I felt that way after I gave up on Sasuke. He didn't love me. I know how you feel. The difference is that you've always been there for me Shikamaru. I want to be here for you too."

"Oi…troublesome woman. You're babbling." Shikamaru muttered, the red still present on his face. Ino was never this open with anybody. It surprised him that she chose to share it with him.

"Shut up!" Her voice broke. "Please let me be here for you."

She didn't say anything after that. She just stood there holding him. Both were not in their best state of mind or physical appearance. Ino pressed her ear against his back and listened to his heart beat. She slid her arms down a little and breathed in his scent. Ino briefly wondered if he felt as comforted by her presence as she did by his.

"Shikamaru?" Ino quietly whispered well aware of how seductive her voice sounded.

"…" He breathed deeply.

"Have you slept at all or eaten anything?" Ino kept herself pressed against him.

"……No." Ino pulled away from him.

"You idiot! I bet you haven't even showered either! No wonder you're feeling so lousy! You have to be clean, have enough sleep, and eat good food if you want to feel any better about it!"

"Like you're one to talk. You hardly eat anything." Shikamaru mumbled, glaring at the ground. Her arms were so warm….

"Idiot. I stopped dieting a week ago. I can't seem to get enough strawberry icecream…." Ino laughed slightly in the end. "It's so addicting. Do you want me to cook you something?"

"…." Ino's eye started to twitch. She squeezed him again hoping that she would receive an answer. "No."

"Why the hell not?" She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. "I mean it's bad enough to tell me to leave you alone, but then after that yo-"

Ino's rant was cut short. "Please shut up Ino. It's a bad time for this. This is why I don't want to see you right now." He removed his hand from her mouth.

Ino nodded, understanding. "Ok. You really need to get your mind off of this. It's really bothering you."

"Nice observation." The sarcasm dripped from his words and he was now facing her. "I really wonder how you could have possibly come up with that."

'_How am I supposed to keep his mind off of Temari? If I leave him alone, he'll just start thinker of her again and become even more depressed..' _Ino tried to sort the things running throughout her mind.

Before a decent thought came, Ino pressed her lips firmly against Shikamaru's, pulling him as close as possible.

'_Oh god. I swore I wouldn't do this to one of my teammates, but maybe it'll shock him so much that he stops thinking of her. Or maybe he can pour his pain into me..' _Ino's eyes widened as she started feeling the pain. It seemed like it hurt so much that tears sprang in her eyes. Shikamaru pulled her tightly against his body, trying to stop the ache. Tears were falling from his closed eyes.

Ino realized something. She realized that Shikamaru needed her more than ever right now. It wasn't like he'd kiss any other girls. And she doubted he'd kiss any of the boys either. Her fingers stroked his rough stubble and her thumb grazed across his smooth cheek.

Neither of the two teenagers knew exactly how long that single kiss lasted but they pulled apart, their breathing patterns slightly uneven. Shikamaru pulled her close and rested his chin against the crook of her neck. His body bent down to embrace her. "She cheated on me."

Ino was fully aware of how much this meeting meant. Maybe that's why she embraced him again. Maybe that's why she pressed her lips against his again. Maybe that's why she chose to give him her virginity that night. Maybe she understood that he meant Temari slept with other people and told Shikamaru that he was horrible in everything. That he was a crybaby and it was unattractive. Maybe she wanted to prove Temari was wrong about Shikamaru in everything. Or maybe it was just that she felt for him in a way that she would never truly comprehend. But Shikamaru understood.

* * *

I wanted to find another way to express this pairing. Shikamaru always seems to comfort Ino in the stories here. I tried it from the other way around here. I don't know if it seemed OOC, but I like it in all of its glory. I hope you guys enjoy it. Review. I want to know what you guys think of my lovely romance one shot. 


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